ROC News

If you’ll recall, weather-wise, we certainly pulled the short straw @ Rockingham; virtually continuous (and oft times genuinely heavy) rain on our Saturday Race Day, whereas the next day it was nice and dry for those racing on the Sunday.

When I arrived at Donington at about 5.00pm on the Saturday before our Sunday Race Day, it wasn’t exactly promising; it was still raining and I got absolutely drenched walking the relatively short distance from the paddock gate to the pits; it had rained so much that virtually all of the racing due to have taken place that afternoon had been abandoned, an exceptionally rare event and of course very disappointing for an awful lot of competitors.

Anyway, come Sunday morning about 5.30am peeking out of the window I see that although very recent, it has actually finally stopped raining with the promise of a dry day and a damp, then drying and then dry track. And so it was, damp enough to necessitate wets for qualifying, followed by two really quick dry races, thereby - silly tuned engines aside - pretty well equalising the always entertaining battle between such as the Class A SR3s and the Class B PR6s; the ideal weather for the season’s finale and the Class & Championship deciders. And as Elite Motorsport were double-booked and therefore down at Brands with the Ginetta Embryos, it was nice for ROC to be taken care of once again by our good friends at Mansol Motorsport. Thanks Guys, fantastic job!; quick ID of the problem (not of their making) that totally screwed qualy, great pep talk from Mark Sutterby and (as the video and it’s commentary will evidence) Will hunkered down and went out and did the necessary!

And talking about winners, ROC’s sincere congratulations of course go to always amiable Phil Knibb (likewise equally both Tracktime Solutions and Breakell Racing) for just holding off Will to deservedly become the 2016 ROC Bikesports Champion. Well Done Phil! Let’s hope we have the same level of highly competitive and spirited but always fair racing in Bikesports in 2017, because that’s really what it is all about; the best driver on the day, not the guy with the biggest wallet. Long may that continue!

Here’s the Race Report courtesy yet again of Josh Barrett for the words and likewise Aaron Lupton for the photos, both kindly supplied as usual via James Winstanley of 750 Motor Club.

RACE REPORT – ROC BIKESPORTS AT DONINGTON, 2 OCTOBER 2016

The final pair of ROC Bikesports races of 2016 took place at Donington Park on the Grand Prix Circuit. Five drivers headed into the weekend with a chance of the overall title – Phil Knibb (Radical SR3), Joe Stables (Radical PR6), Will Brown (PR6), Richard Wise (Spire GT3) and Adrian Reynard (SR3).

Race One

Pole sitter and championship leader Phil Knibb was passed by series returnee Jon-Paul Ivey (PR6) on lap two at Redgate. A similar move was successfully completed by Richard Webb (PR6) on the following lap; Webb having made the move to Bikesports at Donington after a very competitive novice half-season in RGB. Webb then chased Ivey who started to struggle with his brakes, but it was Webb who ended up retiring – in this instance via a puncture on lap seven.

Will Brown – who was working his way through from the back – passed Phil Knibb on lap nine at Melbourne. One of his most impressive moves was completed earlier in the race though – when he passed Adrian Reynard and Mike Davis (PR6) at Redgate in one swoop.

Will Brown chased and caught Jean-Paul Ivey, after being more than fifteen seconds back, but was unable to find a way through. Phil Knibb took third. Joe Stables and Richard Wise had retired earlier in the race, ruling them out of a championship chance. Adrian Reynard took sixth behind Mike Davis and Chris Preen (SR3), also ruling him out a title chance heading into the final race.

Race Two

Phil Knibb fell to fourth from pole on the opening lap of race two – behind Jon-Paul Ivey, Richard Webb and Joe Stables. Webb retired on lap four though. Will Brown – again from the back – moved to third on lap five, passing Phil Knibb. He looked unlikely to catch the two leading cars but Ivey spun into the gravel at McLeans on lap nine and was quickly followed by the retirement of Stables.

The result therefore was a victory for Will Brown with Phil Knibb behind in second place. The result was sufficient for Phil Knibb to take the championship, despite not winning all season. Chris Preen took third in the race. He narrowly beat Julian Griffiths (PR6), with Doug Carter (PR6) in sixth.

Phil Knibb took both Class A victories, to also secure him the Class A Title. Chris Preen took a pair of seconds, with Adrian Reynard and Mark Grason (SR3) clinching a third each. Jon-Paul Ivey and Will Brown took a win each in Class B. Mike Davis, Julian Griffiths and Doug Carter also took a class podium, and Will Brown the Class B Championship. Class D Champion Robert Gardiner (Spire GT3) won twice.

Downloads and Motors & Web TV

You can find full results and photos from Donington and Championship and Class Final Points on the 750 Motor Club website:

This provides some really superb video coverage of both races, especially Race Two: The good but pretty short coverage of Race One starts at about 31:00 and ends at about 37:50 after an interview with Winner Jon-Paul Ivey. The longer coverage of Race Two starts at about 1:45:33 and ends at about 1:57:36 after an interview with both Winner Will Brown and Second Place and Overall Championship Winner Phil Knibb. As you will see, Race Two includes some exciting footage from Will Brown’s car as he makes his way from last place on the grid to the top step of the podium. Pump up the volume for the full effect!

The Driver of The Day Award (yet again kindly donated by Rock Oil via the ever-enthusiastic and always helpful Neil Cox of Corinium Motorsport) was deservedly awarded to Mark Grason for his highest ever 6th place finish in the high attrition rate Race Two. Fantastic job Mark, likewise congratulations to Mansol Motorsport who run your SR3!

LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT SEASON!

We are very much looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible competing (whether once again or for the first time) in 750 Motor Club’s 2017 Radical Owners Club Bikesports Championship. 2017 might seem a long way away as the clocks go back and Autumn shortly turns to Winter, but with stuff like rebuilds, improvements to both car and driver, it’s not and all of a sudden we will be back out there testing, having a load more fun with friendly and helpful competitors! Bring It On! Meantime there is good stuff like the 750MC Awards Evening and Autosport to look forward to. We at ROC, certainly hope you’ve enjoyed Bikesports this year and rest assured 2017 will (note, not might) be even better (the reappearance of the famous and delicious Japanese Curry is near certain!) and do please feel free to say/convey to us if you think anything could do with improvement. Meantime, take care all and keep it on the black stuff!

Best Regards

Trev

ROC General Dogsbody #No Mark

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